Love at First Fall
by Thiendrah
Summary: The many falls, slips, and adventures that eventually lead to love. Please R&R. Rated T for language and suggestive themes. May go up.
1. Falling

First attempt at La Corda fic, please don't flame me, just give me constructive criticism. I not own anything. Spoiler central people. Please enjoy! "" talking; '' thinking

* * *

A boy, about 5'8" with mess, light green hair, pale brown eyes and a slim and lanky form, dressed in dark pants, orange T-shirt and white jacket walked over the grounds of the Seison Music School. A messenger bag was slung from his left shoulder to right hip, and he carried a trumpet case over his shoulder. He was staring at the ground and seemed lost in thought.

"Hihara! Hey, Hihara!"

Kazuki Hihara turned to the boy a few inches shorter than himself with long lavender hair and a face that all women fought for. He was dressed in dark pants, matching vest, and white undershirt, a green tie completing his pristine look.

"Oh, Azuma. Sorry, I was sorta spacing out."

"Ah. What were you thinking about?" Azuma Yunoki gave him a knowing look that caused Kazuki to blush, bringing a dark pink tinge to his tanned cheeks.

He'd been remembering the training camp after the first selection. He had fallen on the small red head girl and stared into her large eyes, a darker shade than his own; remembered the smell of the strawberry pudding on her and her soft body against his. Even though he felt guilty for thinking that, he couldn't help but remember.

He was snapped out of his thought by the bell for class to begin. He quickly grabbed his things and ran for his first class. For the rest of the day, Kazuki tried to concentrate but he just couldn't focus long enough to absorb anything any teacher tried to tell him. After school, he went up to the roof with his trumpet to practice. It was where he truly first met Kahoko. She too had come up to practice. He could still hear the music their duet made in the courtyard.

"Hihara-sempai?"

Said boy gasped, juggled his trumpet, then turned around and saw _her_. The 5'3" goddess with red hair. Her black uniform and short white skirt accenting her figure perfectly.

"Hey, Hino-chan! Practicing?" 'Just act natural,' was going through his head.

"Actually, I heard music up here and wanted to see who it was. It was beautiful."

"Thanks! You wanna try for a duet?"

"Sure!" She smiled and got out her violin. "What'd you have in mind?"

"Hmm. How bout 'Ode to Joy'? It's by Beethoven. You know it?"

"Sure sounds familiar. Will you play for me first?"

"Of course!" He played with his usual vigor and fun, letting her easily realize how the song got its name, and how to play it. "You ready?"

She nodded and they played. The same unique and beautiful music came out to a different tune. He knew, from her tune, just how much fun she was having doing this. He closed his eyes and played for her while she played with him. As the last note hung in the air, he felt like a tension he'd been holding in had finally dissipated.

"Hihara-sempai, that was amazing! I've never had so much fun! Thank you."

He tried to suppress a blush. "I enjoyed it too. We need to do that more often!"

A noise beeped from Kaho's bag. She went to check it and it turned out that she had to go back home to help her older sister do something Kazuki didn't really understand. He waved goodbye from the top of the building as she walked home. He sighed and put his trumpet back to his lips and was about to play when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He nearly choked as he raised his instrument to attack the person, till he saw it who it was.

He was an inch taller than Kazuki, with short dark green hair and brown eyes. Well built and muscular from years of playing sports, he wore a dark uniform jacket, red tie and long white pants. The boy released Kazuki's shoulder.

"Sorry, Tsuchiura, I didn't know it was you."

"It's okay, so long as you don't jam that horn on my head." Ryotaro Tsuchiura said as he took a step back from the other. "I heard you and Hino playing up here and decided to listen."

"It's a trumpet." He mumbled. "Yeah, she came up while I was practicing and we ended up playing a duet."

"Uh-huh. I saw that look."

"What look?" Kazuki pretended not to know what he was talking about.

"You love her. You, me, Tsukimori, and Yunoki-sempai. She is a great person, which is probably why we'll end up fighting for her in the end. She's admired by most of the girls in the school, including Shoko, and Keiichi fell in love with her music along with many first years."

"I know, could she be more perfect?" Big dreamy look appears on his face. Ryotaro sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"I don't know but, just be careful, ok? Don't do anything stupid that will hurt yourself or her. Especially her." He sighs again and leaves.

"Ok! Same to you." Kazuki yells after him. After Ryo left, Kazuki continued to practice, wishing for his music to reach Kahoko.

* * *

The next day at school, all participants were called into the music conference room. The third selection's theme had been decided. The theme was 'The Irreplaceable Thing'. And the performance was in two weeks. Everyone was told good luck and dismissed.

"Hey, Tsuchiura-kun, what're you thinking of playing?" Kahoko asked as they walked back to the gen-ed portion of the school.

He thought for a moment. "Chopin's Revolutionary. Every time I've heard it, I think that he wrote it knowing there were things worth fighting for. What about you?"

"Oh, I haven't decided yet. I need to look over the music I have and look for others, and try to find the best piece."

"Hope you find the piece you're looking for. I'll see you later." He went off to his class leaving her at her class door.

"Kaho-chan! What'd they tell you?" Mio, a girl an inch shorter than Hino with short, curly, dirty-blonde hair and big blue eyes, asked.

"Yeah, what'd they want you for? Was the new theme picked?" Nao, a girl taller than Hino with black hair and dark grey eyes said.

"Yeah! It's the Irreplaceable Thing. I'm gonna go to practice ok? I'll see you later."

She packed her bag and grabbed her case and ran down the stairs to the music department practice rooms. As she was about to go into a room a boy as tall as Kazuki with short blue hair and brown eyes, in a white uniform and red tie came out and almost ran her down.

"Tsukimori-kun! I'm sorry, did I disturb you? I'll go to another room." She was about to leave when he grabbed her shoulder.

"No, I was just finishing. The room is yours. Please excuse me." Len Tsukimori said formally.

He left her bewildered, but she went in and started her practice with her magic violin. After her warm ups, she looked through her sheet music for something appropriate to play, a tiny being with blond hair, lavender eyes and dressed in a blue leotard with light blue wings, appeared.

"Hino Kahoko, I've heard the new theme! I've brought you music that's suitable!" A large amount of music and books showered Kahoko's head. "Do your best, Hino Kahoko!"

"Lili!" But too late, the music fairy was gone.

She sighed and picked up the music. She stopped on a booklet of Tchaikovsky's Melodie. She opened it and read through it. The red head knew it had a meaning behind it but needed to hear it before she truly knew. She was startled by a knock on the door. She turned and saw a blonde boy with blue eyes who was taller than her and dressed in a white uniform with a blue tie, he was carrying a large blue cello case. Behind him was a girl shorter than Kahoko with aqua hair and grey eyes also dressed in a white uniform with a blue bow, holding a black clarinet case, shyly waved to her.

"Kaho-sempai," Shoko Fuuyumi said shyly. "Do you need help with those papers?" She bent down and picked up a paper and handed it to Kahoko.

"Thank you, Fuuyumi-chan. I've got it; I'll get out of your way Are you and Keiichi practicing together?"

"Not exactly." Keiichi Shimizu said in his slow, sleepy way. "Fuuyumi needed help getting the right tone on her clarinet and asked me to help."

"Ah. She nodded in understanding. "Then I'll leave you to it." She grabbed her things and left the two first-years to their practice.

On her way home, she stopped off at the music store and bought a CD of Tchaikovsky's Melodie to listen to at home. It started raining as she rounded the last corner to her house. She quickly ran inside and went upstairs to her room. She dried off the violin case and carefully put it in the corner of her room. She put the CD in her player and listened to the soothing sounds.

And so life went on for two weeks. Kazuki tried to keep his obvious feels from being obvious (and failing to anyone except Kahoko who was oblivious anyway); Tsukimori was coldly indifferent to anyone except Hino, he was polite to her; Tsuchiura went on trying to balance soccer and the concours, Azuma was still as polite and charming as ever even when being bombarded by his fan girls; Shimizu, all he did was sleep and play the cello, and Shoko, she tried to open up a little more but still stayed to herself and her clarinet.

And then, one day in the middle of the second week, Kaho took her violin and went to the park, trying to find a place to practice. She passed the large fountain in the square and the pier over looking the sea. She came upon a fenced-in basketball court where six boys were playing. One made an amazing 3-point shot and jumped around; Kaho recognized him.

"Hihara-sempai!"

"Hino-chan?" He ran out of the court to her. "What's up? Practice?"

"I was thinking of practicing in the park."

"Oi, Kazuki, a friend from school?" The speaker was taller than Kazuki with black hair but with the exact same color eyes dressed in black shorts and a red T-shirt.

"Yeah, Aniki, this is Kahoko Hino, a second year."

"Hi, I'm his older brother, Haruki. This guy's a lot of trouble isn't he. Sorry."

"Uh, no, that's not for me to say." Kaho stammered out.

"Don't talk so much!" Kazuki exclaimed at his brother.

The chain link fence rattled causing them to look over and see all the boys staring at Kahoko.

"Kazuki's girlfriend?"

"Hey, she's cute."

"Wanna come play with us?"

They said this and Kazuki flipped, getting between them and Kaho.

"Stop it guys! Sorry, Hino." He added to her.

"No, it's aright. Is it ok if I practice here?"

"Of course! Just let me know when you're going home."

"Yeah." He ran back into the court.

Kazuki went back to playing with the other boys and Kaho started practicing. At one point, Kazuki wished he had his trumpet to play with her. As she plays, she thinks to herself, 'it's been awhile since I've played this calmly, it's gotten strangely noisy lately.' She remembers Yunoki kissing her head and hits a sour note.

"Hino-chan?" Kazuki calls.

"I'm sorry! It's nothing." 'That was an accident.'

She was about to try again when she remembered Tsuchiura's ex-girlfriend thinking that she was now his girl. And again she hit the wrong note. This time Kazuki came out to see her.

"What's wrong Hino-chan?" He asked her concerned.

"Sorry…"

"Kazuki!" Haruki called him. "I just remembered something I have to do, so I'm going home." One by one the other boys left as well, despite Kazuki's protest that the game wasn't over yet. Haruki put on his hat and gave the ball to Kazuki. "Treat it as thanks for the hat." And he left.

"So, can I take you to tea?" Kazuki asked Kaho.

They walk out of the park to a small café.

"Sempai, I can pay for my part." Kaho said carefully.

"It's OK. I didn't thank you properly for helping me pick out a present." Kazuki stopped suddenly and he looks back at her, then to where she's staring.

"Hino-san?" This is said by a short girl with wavy brown hair, teal eyes, dressed in a pink dress and a short sleeved white jacket. The boy with her turns around.

"Hino! Hihara-sempai?"

"Tsuchiura?"

"Ah, that's your real boyfriend right?" Mizue Sakimoto asked.

"Boyfriend?" Kazuki starts stammering.

They all sat down to try and explain. "I did it again. I'm sorry. It's just, when I say you two, you looked so good together."

"Looked good together?" Kazuki repeated.

"I'm Mizue Sakimoto, Ryotaro's ex-girlfriend."

"Ex-girlfriend?" The trumpet player looked at him for explanations.

"Yeah, a little in middle school." Ryotaro explained vaguely.

Kazuki jumped up excitedly. "So you have gone out with girls before!" Everyone in the café looked at him and giggled.

"Hihara-sempai." Ryotaro tried to calm the older boy down.

"You're a sempai?" Mizue asked

"Yeah, Kazuki Hihara, third year."

"Are you in soccer club, too?"

"No, I'm in oke club."

"Oke?" She was absolutely perplexed.

"Orchestra club, I play the trumpet."

"Ah. Are you in the concours?"

"Yeah. Hino-chan's amazing on the violin. And Tsuchiura's playing the piano, too."

"You play piano?" She directed this to Ryotaro.

"He jumped up on stage and did Hino-chan's accompaniment! It was incredible!" Kazuki cut in.

Mizue sat thinking for a few minutes. "Hino-san, were you and Hihara-san practicing together?"

"No. I was practicing in the park and Hihara-sempai and his brother were playing basketball."

"Aniki had something to do so he left and we came here for tea." Kazuki picked up.

"You know, Ryotaro, you weren't only good at soccer, you were also good at basketball too."

"Really?" Ryotaro asked.

"Yeah! All the girls would watch you and every time you made a shot they'd all shout 'So cool!' You don't remember that?"

"How would I know that?" He asked dejectedly.

"Wouldn't you like to see it, Hino-san, a show-down between these two?" Mizue asked her. Everyone looked at her.

They went back to the court. Kazuki started stretching while Ryotaro warmed up.

"I don't see why I have to do this." The latter said discontentedly.

"I do this often with my gen-ed friends but this is the first time with you, Tsuchiura."

"I don't do this off campus."

"Yeah, I guess it would be bad if you sprained a finger." Kazuki teased.

Ryotaro glared at him. "I won't make such a blunder." He dribbled and circled passed Kazuki for a shot.

"Ryotaro's so cool!" Mizue said.

"Amazing." Kahoko added. Kazuki looked back at them.

"My turn." He dribbled straight at Ryotaro, jumping backwards at the last second for a three point that was nothing but net.

Mizue clapped. "Hihara-san's great! Don't you think, Hino?"

"Yeah!"

The boys looked at them, then each other. The game continued like that, each trying to top the other and shooting basket after basket. As they did that, Mizue explained to Kahoko why they broke up. He'd never seemed happy around her and she wanted him to be happy.

"I always wanted him to call me by my first name, but he never would. Tell me Hino, which is you're favorite. Ryotaro, Hihara-san, or that guy you were with at the station?"

"Huh!?" Kahoko made the sound so loud the boys looked at her. Unfortunately, Kazuki was still running with the ball and tripped over Ryotaro's foot, crashing to the ground.

"Hihara-sempai!" Ryotaro went over to him. His right arm had a really bad cut on his right arm.

"Hihara-sempai! Are you alright?" Kahoko ran too him. She saw his cut. "You're bleeding aren't you?"

"It's okay! It'll heal if I lick it." He said waving his arm.

Mizue walked out on the court up to Ryotaro. "I'm going home. Escort me?" She grabbed his arm before he could protest and they walked off.

Kaho took Kazuki over to a fountain and ran his arm under cold water.

"It's fine!" He tried to protest.

"It is not! What if bacteria gets in it? What are you gonna do if it affects your performance?" She berated him as she cleaned the cut

He was listening with only half an ear. He was level with the top of her head and was amazed at how good she smelled. Then he remembered that Azuma kissed her on top of her head and pulled back a little.

"Is something wrong, Hihara-sempai?" She asked.

He blushed and looked away. "No! It's nothing."

She rummaged through her bag and found a band-aid. "Hold out your arm." He did as he was told and she put the red plaid bandage on his arm. "It's tacky but it'll be ok."

"Thanks." He paused for a moment. "Kaho-chan."

She looked at him. "Huh?"

"Uh, it sounds cuter that way, 'Kaho-chan.'" He spoke fast and turned red even faster. "I can't, huh?"

She averted her eyes. "No, it's ok."

"Then you can call me, 'Kazukisempai.'" He offered.

Kaho blushed and remembered what Mizue said about wanting to be called by her first name. "I think I'll pass."

"Oh. Ok."

She grabbed her bag and her violin case. "I'm going home now, ok?" She started walking.

"Kaho-chan." Kazuki murmured.

"Something wrong, Hihara-sempai?" She asked with a smile over her shoulder. When he didn't answer, she kept walking.

He put his hand to his elbow. "That's it. I really do lover her." He walked home with this thought resounding through his mind. He grabbed his trumpet and walked back to the walk over-looking the harbor, and started playing. As he played he remembered the tenderness that Kaho displayed when she fixed his arm.

* * *

End of Chappie one. There are more to come, so stay tuned to this station for more details. 


	2. Breaking up

Second chapter, I own nothing, please review and don't flame me. Thank you for reviewing Paper Hearts Bleed Ink, Whispering-KAZE.

* * *

The next day, all participants for the concours were called into the music room. In the room already was one man 6'1 with long light lavender hair, black eyes, dressed in a yellow shirt, white pants and a white short sleeved jacket. Another man, 6'2 with short red hair, brown eyes behind round glasses, dressed in jeans, a black shirt, and green jacket, was there next to him. 

"Hello. You've been called here because I would like to have you help me conduct violin classes for children." Shinobu Ousaki said with out preamble. He pushed his glasses higher up his nose.

"Violin classes?" Kaho asked perplexed.

"Yes. I've taught at the university but I've lost my ability to do so with younger people. Which is why I need help. I considered asking the Orchestra club but Hiroto Kanazawa suggested using the concours participants."

Said older man wrapped his arms around Tsukimori and Kaho. "I think it'll be a good experience. Just one favor."

Ryotaro, Azuma, and Shoko had to decline.

"Uh… it's alright with me but…" Kaho looked at len. He saw the look and sighed.

"Since sempai and sensei ask it…"

"Thank you!" Ousaki said.

"Hey, hey! I'm free too!" Kazuki said enthusiastically.

"And I also have nothing to do…" Shimizu said.

"Great, since Shimizu-kun is coming, we can make it a quartet." That got Shimizu's attention.

"A quartet? I'm coming!"

"Excelent. Kanazawa-sensei, can I borrow a viola?"

"Oh, so you can play the viola now? Sure."

"Hey, Ousaki-sempai, what about me?" Kazuki asked.

It was Kanazawa who answered. "You'll be needed for miscellaneous jobs."

"Huh! That's mean Kanayan!"

"There are a lot of kids, so it'll be a great help if you come." Ousaki said as a consolation.

"That's right." Azuma put in. "It seems like you'll quickly get along with the kids."

"Yunoki,Ousaki-sempai!"

"Miscellaneous jobs, in other words." Kanazawa said.

"Kanayan, you dummy!"

Kaho walked up to him. "There, there, Hihara-sempai! Let's do our best, okay?"

"Y-yeah. I'm looking forward to it, Kaho-chan!"

At the last words, Ryotaro and Azuma looked at Kazuki kinda strange-like. They hadn't heard anyone in the concours group call her anything but 'Hino' except for Shoko.

At the little school, the four with string instruments were left in the room with the kids while Kazuki had to go run errends. By the time he got back, the performance was over and Len made it clear that it hadn't been worth hearing. After all the kids had gone Ousaki packed away the violins, and noticed there were some missing.

"I wonder if they got left in the classroom."

"I'll go get them!" Kaho volunteered and ran off to the room.

Kazuki came to the car that everything was being loaded into and put the papers and various other things he was carrying into the back next to the violin cases. He looked around and didn't see a few people.

"Ousaki-sempai, where's Kaho-chan and Tsukimori?"

"They went to get the rest of the violins."

"I'll go help!"

He ran off before the bespecled man could protest. He ran up to the classroom and barged in willing to help, only to find Len and Kaho in the room, very quiet.

"What's wrong?"

Kaho put down the bow she was holding and ran past him without a word. He followed her and found her sitting on the swing, surrounded by the kids, and crying. The children were trying to comfort her and find out what was wrong but she didn't answer.

* * *

The next day, the day before the thrid selection. Kazuki met Ryotaro on the stairs to the roof. 

"Tsuchiura, going to practice?"

"Actually, I made a tape of myself playing and I'm going to listen to it repeatedly." He held out a small disk.

A noise at the top of the stairs distracted the boys. It was Kaho, looking rather flustered.

"Kaho-chan? What's wrong?" Kazuki asked her concered.

"Ah, no, I was going to practice on the roof but then I decided to practice in the practice rooms instead." She said all this while passing them on the way down the stairs, not giving them a chance to talk.

"Hey!"

"Hino's been acting strange lately." Ryo stated. "Do you know why?"

"No. She's been like this since Ousaki-sempai's favor. I think something happened between her and Tsukimori."

"Tsukimori?" He looked up the stairs, his face hard and started marching up double time with Kazuki trying to catch up or find out what was wrong. He threw open the door to see Len practicing, until he turned around. "What did you tell her?" Ryo demanded.

"'Her'?" Len quiried.

"Hino! It's Hino! She just ran down from here looking incredibly upset."

"She hasn't come up here." Ryo and Kazuki looked at each other in confusion. "Besides, whatever's happening to her is none of your buisness, is it?"

He didn't have to react before Ryo grabbed him by the collar,glaring daggeres of pure hate at him.

"Tsuchiura!" Kazuki exclaimed in surprise.

However Len remained somewhat calm. "Why? Why do you become so heated when it comes to Hino?"

Ryo and Kazuki both reared back in surprise. Ryo let him go with a curse and looked away.

"Better yet, I'm the one who'd like to ask."

Both green haired boys looked at him sidelong. Then left in silence.

The next day, the third selection. In the girls' room, they were talking about the outfits. Shoko wore a yellow skirt and shirt that was off the shoulder but looked adorable on her. Kaho worw a blue dress that was sleeveless and had a white front.

"You look so cute, Shoko-san!" This was said by a girl with long light brown hair in a ponytail and was still dressed in a uniform, she had a camera in her hands. Amo Nami turned to Kaho. "Don't you think so Hino- san?"

Kaho'd been in a daze but woke up at the sound of her name. "Eh, uh, yeah, that's right! You always were cute clothes, Fuyuumi-chan!"

"Good for you! Those type don't suit me." Amo said.

The boys' side was more sedate. The only one really energetic was Azuma. Shimizu was tying his bow sleepily and was almost tying it in a knot, and Azuma had to tie if for him. Kazuki, Ryo, and Len were silent and deep in thought. The door opened and Ousaki came in. He was dressed in a red tee-shirt, white jacket, and kahki pants.

"Are you all done with your preparations? I think it's about to start."

"Ousaki-sempai?" Azuma said. "Why are you here?"

"Since I've been watching the all the selection so far, I was invited to help Kanazawa-sensei today."

"I see. It's much appreciated."

"Its an easy task!" It was then he noticed the mood. in the room. He leaned over and whispered in Azuma's ear. "Did something happen? The atmosphere in here is a little strange."

"I wonder…?"

Everyone gathered backstage, and the usual greetings were said. Then the first name was called.

"Performer # 1, from the Music Department, 3-B Hihara Kazuki-kun! Performing a Schubert composition, "Serenade."

They all wished him luck as he and his accompanist walked out on stage. But, he didn't play like he usually does. He was off tempo, hit three wrong notes and ended before the true ending. He bowed, walked off stage, and collapsed against the wall.

"I'm sorry. My feeling weren't quite in harmony with it. That was terrible."

"Performer # 2, from the Music Department, 1-A, Shimizu Keiichi-kun! Performing a Faure composistion, "Sicilienne."

Shimizu play well but not strictly to the score like he always did. Even though it was beautiful music, it was noticed. It seemed indecisively heavy, and unstable. He ended his performance, bowed and walked off the stage.

"Performer # 3, from the Music Department, 1-B Fuyuumi Shoko-san!"

She played beautifully and for once, she had more confidence. And it showed in her music. Kaho envied her, and the others who've been playing since they were kids. The music was different and soothing. After she finished she bowed with a big smile on her face and back to the others who all congradulated her.

"Performer # 4, from the Music Department, 2-A Tsukimori Len-kun! Performing a Ravel composition, "Tzigane."

He played near perfection, with gusto and panache. But it was not the same as his usual. And when he came back, Kanazawa said as much. Len was not happy with his performance and believed that he could have played it better.

"Performer # 5, from the General Education Department, 2-5, Tsuchiura Ryotaro-kun! Performing a Chopin composition, "Revolutionary."

It was a beautiful performance, much more direct than usual but still beautiful. He finished, bowed, and left with out a word. However, when he got backstage, he saw Kaho looking down.

"Hino? What's wrong?"

"Performer # 5, from the General Education Department, 2-2, Hino Kahoko-san! Performing a Tchaikovsky composition, Melodie."

She didn't answer Ryo but walked on stage with her accompanist, Mori-san, and started playing. As she did, self-doubts and anger at herself for not being real came up. She begged the magic violin to help her get to the other's level, even if only for a few moments. Lili tried to calm her down.

"You can't force those emotions into the violin! What's wrong, Hino Kahoko?!"

She didn't hear him, or if she did she didn't listen. She played, begging for more from the violin and then the strings broke. She was in shoke, the other participants and Lili were the same. She slowly lowered the violin and bow, bowed, and ran off stage, and out the door, ignoring the protests form the others. She ran straight to the girls changing room and fell to her knees, cradleing the violin. Lili then appered.

"Lili! What happened? Why did it break?"

"The violin is basiclly a reflection of your heart. You kept putting in emotions that niether you nor the violin couldn't handle and the strings broke."

At these words, Kaho held the violin closer. "I'm so sorry." She whispered to the violin. "How could I do such a thing?" She started shaking as if about to cry.

"I'll fix it right away!" Lili waved his wand and the violin glowed pink but when the light vanished, the srings were still broke. "What!" He kept trying but it didn't do any good.

"Enough, Lili." Kaho muttered in defeat. "I never deserved this." She packed away the violin, and changed back into her uniform. She could hear the other girls trying to get in. She opened the door.

"I'm okay." She said in answer to their worries. "I'm going home now, okay?" She left for home. As she left, she ran past Kazuki, Ryo, and Len without even seeing them. Kazuki tried to stop her but Ryo put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Let her alone. She just wants to be alone."

"Right." Kazuki watched her go, wishing he had something to say.

* * *

The next day, Kaho was late to class, she'd slept late, and made it just in time. She stopped quickly at her desk infront of Mio and Nao. 

"Sorry I'm late!"

"Just as long as you got here." Mio said. "You ok?"

"Of course! Hey, how bout we go to that cake shop after school?"

"Are you sure?" Noa asked. "Don't you have practice?"

"What? Don't you guys wanna hang out with me?"

"Of course!"

The rest of the day, Kaho was happy and cheerful, like she'd been before the concours. At the end, she left long before she had in the last few months. Kazuki and Ryo watched her leave from the music room upstairs.

"Do you think she'll be ok?" Kazuki asked.

"She just needs a few days, I think she'll be fine." Ryo answered. The other sighed, picked up his trumpet, and left for a practice room.

The rest of the week progressed much the same. Kaho left early everyday, the boys would watch, and she went back to her life before the competition. Finally Ryotaro got fed up with watching her leave. He caught her as she was about to leave for Kareoke with her girl-friend.

"I'm sorry, she has a previous engagment with me." He dragged her by her elbow, before she could she could say a word, out to the yard. She finally yanked her arm back and wrapped in around herself in attempt to warm herself in the cold air.

"What is the matter?" She shivered a little in the cooling weather.

"What's happening? If you don't keep up your habit of practicing everyday, your skills will deteriorate. What's wrong?"

Kaho didn't answer right away. "It has nothing to do with you, does it Tsuchuira-kun?"

He pulled back. She turned to leave,but he grabbed her shoulder. "'Nothing to do with me'? Because of you…" He saw the hurt in her eyes and didn't continue. She pulled away from him and ran off to find her friends. He sighed as he watched her leave.

Kaho ran to find her friends and instead literally bumped into Kazuki. She ran around him, not listening to him calling her. She found Mio and Nao, put on a happy face and went to Kareoke with them, but didn't really enjoy herself. She couldn't enjoy herself.

* * *

End of Second chapter. Will update ASAP. Thank you watching this weeks segment of 'Love at First Fall.' Please review! 


	3. Brotherly Advice

Fourth chapter, I own nothing, I am begging you to review, please enjoy. And thank you Doozy. This chappie is just a tad more Kazuki centric but I think it's pretty good.

* * *

The rest of the vacation, Kaho was plagued by the red case that sat in the corner of her room next to her dresser. The magic violin. The thing that got her into the whole mess, the reason she met the boys, the cause of all her lies, and it just sat there creating guilty motivation that she never wanted. Not that she couldn't have refused if she'd wanted to, but now music was in her life and she didn't know how to make it go away. Kaho knew that in her heart, she wanted to play again but what right did she have? And she had to go back to school tomorrow. What could she do? She hadn't told Kanazawa-sensei about her decision to quit the concours and she didn't know how to tell him, or the others. After tossing and turning for about an hour, she finally fell into a restless sleep.

The next morning, after Kaho finished school, and escaped the people who kept questioning her and couldn't find Kanazawa- sensei, she started walking home, when she saw the teacher she was looking for, sitting on a bench petting a very fat cat, and smoking his cigarette as usual.

"Kanazawa-sensei, I need to speak to you." She said as she came over.

"Oh?" He scooted over. "Sit down; tell me what's on your mind."

She sat and fiddled for a few minutes. "I think I want to drop out of the contest. I can't keep this up."

"Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

She didn't meet his eyes. "Yes. I don't know how to continue with this anymore. I can't play the violin anymore."

He sighed, a puff of smoke escaping from his mouth around his cigarette. "If that's what you want. But it's a pity and a waste of talent." He got up, put a cigarette in his mouth, and headed off back into the school.

'What talent? I only got this far by cheating, playing a magic violin. I can't really play anything. I have nothing to do with music.' A tear fell from her eye.

Little did she know, Kazuki was listening from the path behind the bushes, which were behind the bench she was sitting on.

'Why? Why would Kaho-chan want to quite the violin? Was it because of the third selection, breaking her strings? Why can't she tell me, tell anyone?' These and many other questions swirled around his mind as he stood there, assimilating what she'd told Kanayan. He finally stepped around to her. She looked up startled when she saw him.

"Kaho-chan. Why? Why would you give up music?" He was close to tears as he faced her, hurt that she wouldn't tell him what was wrong or talk to him about this.

"I can't do this, Kazuki-sempai. I don't know how anymore."

He knelt down in front of her and covered her hands in her lap with his own.

"Why can't you talk to me? What can't you do? Please, Kaho-chan, talk to me, I want to help you."

She didn't answer, she sat shaking beneath his hands, and more tears spill out of her eyes. "I'm sorry. I can't." She tore away from him and ran.

"Kaho-chan! Kaho-chan, wait!!" He chased after her, until she got to the crosswalk. She crossed and before he could go, the light changed and he had to stop or get run over. He watched as she ran down the street and out of sight; his fist clench so hard, his nails drew blood. "Kaho-chan, why? Why are you running from me, from everything?"

With nothing left to do, he turned left and headed for his own home. At home, Kazuki's older brother met him at the door instead of his parents.

"What's wrong?" He asked, seeing Kazuki's downcast face.

"I'm not sure, Aniki." He said coming in. "Kaho-chan almost seems afraid of me and all the others. And I can't figure out why." He dropped his bag on the floor and sat on the near by couch.

"Why would anyone be afraid of you? You're a 5'8" walking teddy bear."

"Thank you, Aniki." Kazuki said sarcastically. "But why would she do that? Why would she run from me?"

Haruki sighed. "It's possible she just needs time to come to terms with whatever she's dealing with."

"But she wants to quit the contest! She may want to give up the violin. She shouldn't do that! Her music, it changes people. Fuuyumi is becoming more open, Tsukimori isn't as big an ice cube, Tsuchiura has returned to playing music, Shimizu's found his 'ideal sound in her violin, I've come to terms with feelings _I_ didn't know I had, and even Yunoki seems to be changing a little. It's all thanks to her, her music, her being in the contest with the rest of us. Why would she want to throw away with of these friendships?"

Kazuki's hands kept moving during this and his brother saw the nail bites and the small trail of blood on his hand, running down the wrist. He brought over a small first-aid kit and started fixing his hand.

"Don't you think it's likely she's afraid and intimidated by all that? Don't you think she realizes she caused these changes and thinks it couldn't possibly be her who did it? These are probably unsettling things in her mind, she may never have changed anyone before and it might scare her. Look, try and find a time when she's alone and when she might not be scared and just talk to her about these things, let her know how much you care about her and that you'll help her." Haruki wrapped up Kazuki's hand and put away the kit.

"Do you really think she'll listen to me? I mean, I tried to talk to her this afternoon and she ran! Right after she told Kanayan she wanted to drop out of the contest."

"Her emotions were going wild, and she probably felt that you were asking questions she didn't want to answer. So just wait and be patient, granted that's not one of your strong suits, but try. You love her, don't you?"

Kazuki blushed about ten shades of red. "Uh…well…yeah." He admitted, looking away.

Haruki laughed and ruffled his brother's hair. "My baby brother is finally growing up!"

"I'm not a baby, Aniki!" He said, throwing off Haruki's hand. Still blushing, he picked up his bag and went to his room, his brother chuckling behind him.

* * *

Once Kaho got home, she ignored her mother asking her how her day was, and ran for her room, closing her door and leaning back against it. _"Why? Why would you give up music?" _Kazuki's question resounded through her mind. She could still see the tears in his eyes, trying not to cry. 'How can a simple question make me so afraid? How come I can't answer him like I should?" She slid down the door until she sat on the floor and wrapped her arms around her legs.

"Why am I getting so worked up? He's only a boy, why should I be afraid of talking to him?" She whispered to herself. She sighed and began getting ready for bed.

* * *

Not as long as I would have liked but the next one will be nice and long, I promise. But please review, I'm begging you. 


	4. Repairing relationships

Chapter five. I still own nothing, wish I did, please please please review, I like reading what people have to say, but no flames please.

* * *

The next day at school, Kaho went through the school day trying to act normal, putting on a smile for her friends, suggesting going to a cake shop afterwards, but all the while, guilt and an urge to talk kept nagging at her. But she couldn't, she wouldn't burden her friends with her problems that she had to solve on her own.

"I can't Kaho. My mom needs me to help her make dinner tonight for my family that coming." Mio said, turning down the cake shop idea.

"I'm sorry Kaho-chan, I can't either. My older sister is taking me to the other side of town for 'sisterly bonding time.'" Nao said as well.

"It's okay. I hope you guys have fun!" She said smiling. She waved her friends off; she wasn't all that disappointed that her friends couldn't go. As she turned to go home herself, she turned right into Kazuki, and reeled back to avoid bumping in to him. "Kazuki-sempai! You startle me. Is something wrong?"

"No, I just wanted to talk. Do you have some free time?" He asked sheepishly.

"Yes." They walked to bench, out of ear shot of most of the people. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Uh…well…you see… I wanted to, uh, know why you're avoiding all of us. Me and all the other contestants, I know we all want to know. Will you please tell me?"

"Um." She fidgeted with her fingers in her lap. 'What do I say?! I can't tell I've been living a lie this whole time, I just can't.' "I uh just don't want to make another blunder like I did in the third selection in front of so many people again." It wasn't a whole lie, but not the entire truth either.

"Kaho-chan, you can't let one little mistake do this to you. You've got all of us behind you. Your music is so beautiful, you can recover from that, I promise you can. I did something close to that a little after I'd first started playing the trumpet."

"You did?" Kaho completely forgot about the half lie she told and listen in rapture to Kazuki's story.

"It was about a year after I'd begun playing around with the trumpet. And…"

_Flashback:_

Chibi-Kazuki was practicing on the roof, just slightly off key, but so much better then when he'd first tried to play. Just then, a friend of his, Mizuki, came up on the roof, looking for him. Once she got around the door, she ran to him.

"Kazuki, I've got great news!" The boy in question turned to her in surprise. The girl was a little shorter then his 5'3", with black hair that stopped at her shoulders, and dark brown eyes. "Sensei said she wanted you to play for the Spring Festival assembly on Saturday! You'll be the youngest to play for the Festival."

"That's great! I can't wait. Did she have a particular piece she wanted to play?"

"Um, she said 'Ode to Joy' by Beethoven. I even brought the music for you to practice with." She pulled out a few sheet of music and handed them to Kazuki.

"Thank you. I'll do my best, I promise."

"I'll leave you alone to practice. See ya later!" She ran off, back down the stairs.

Kazuki watched her go, and then looked at the music. "Well, time to start practicing!"

A few days later, the Festival assembly and Kazuki was one of the last to play and when they announced him, he stepped on stage, and started playing with gusto. Perhaps a little too much gusto, because in the middle of the song, he moved the tube too hard and knocked if off its track, causing a _major_ sour note. Kazuki stopped playing, looked at his trumpet, looked at the audience, bowed and ran off the stage as fast as his legs could carry him.

_End of Flashback:_

"See, lots of people have made mistakes on stage." Kazuki said with a smile on his face.

"'Ode to Joy', that's what we played together. Why would you want to play what you made a mistake on?" Kaho asked curiously.

"Because, it's a fun song that I enjoy playing, and I wanted to share it with you. One little mistake isn't enough for me to hate something, not music or a song. You can do the same Kaho-chan."

"But what if I can't? What if I make the same mistake?"

"You just can't give up. You've been doing your best this whole time. And someone wise once said, 'Whoever said anyone had the right to give up?'(1) You just have to keep trying until you've gotten it right. That's what I finally did. The next year, I played a different tune, and did it right because I kept practicing until it was perfect."

A thoughtful look came over Kaho as she thought over Kazuki's story and advice. "Thank you Kazuki-sempai, I need to go, I'll see you later." She got up and started jogging home.

Kazuki watched her go, a warm smile on his lips. 'Well, at least I got her to think of coming back to music.'

* * *

As she ran to the park her spirits were lifted higher than they'd been in weeks. 'Kazuki-sempai's right. I can't give up. I may not have the right to play it but since I've already played this far, I defiantly don't have the right to give up. I have to find Lili and tell him.' She arrived at the park and headed for the small patch of trees.

"Lili? Lili come out, I need to talk to you." She called for the little Fata.

A small ball of light appeared in front her and transformed into the small fairy. "Hino Kahoko, what's the matter?"

"The violin has no more magic, right?"

"Yes, the magic dissipated after the other strings broke. Even the last string has no magic in it."

"Is it still possible for me to play it, if I replace the strings and play the way I did before, will it still work?"

"Yes. If you remember the training you did when it had music, you can still play it. Are you saying that you'll play the violin again?"

"Yes. I not have had the right to play it in the first place, but now that I've become so attached to music, I don't have the right to give up either. I'm going to end this contest, and I'm going to do my best. I finally realized that loving the violin isn't enough for me to appreciate music."

Lili lunged at her and hugged her around the neck. "Thank you Hino Kahoko! This is amazing! I thought you might have hated the violin, hated music, I'm so glad you don't." He pulled back to look her in the eye. "Thank you so much for this! You are such an amazing person." With that, he waved his little wand, and he was gone.

She turned back and headed home with a smile on her face, happier than she'd been for a long time. She got home, put her bag in her room, grabbed her violin case and ran back down stairs. She grabbed the phone book out of the kitchen and looked for a violin shop. She found one, called, and set an appointment for the next day at five.

The next day, after school, Kaho headed over to the 'World of Music' repair shop. When she got there, she didn't see anyone.

"Hello? I'm here to learn how to replace violin strings. Is anyone here?" Kaho called.

A man appeared from the back room. He was about 6'2", had brown eyes and salt-and-pepper hair, small glasses, and dressed in a light blue polo shirt and khaki pants.

"Ah, welcome to my shop. I am Natsuko Akira (2) and you must be Hino Kahoko, correct?"

"Yes, sir." She said politely, bowing.

"Come over here, we'll take a look at your violin." He led her over to a work bench on the far side of the shop. She carefully got out her violin and placed it on the table. He picked it up and examined it expertly. "Alright, I'll show you how to put on the first string, and then you put on the rest, and after you'll need to tune and adjust the strings accordingly. First is G string." He showed her how to string the violin. "Next is A String. You attach it." (3)

She took the string and placed it where he indicated, and tightened the strings. She did the same to the final string as well.

"Alright then, time to tune." He picked up a violin on the table. You always tune to A first, you know that." He played the note. "Now you." She mimicked his fingers and played. It was scratchy, but defiantly an A. "Tighten the string and apply less pressure." Kaho did as she was told.

And so it went till all the notes sounded right.

That night, she walked home with a light heart carrying her violin case and humming a happy tune.

"Well, you seem in better spirits." The voice startled Kaho; she turned around to see Ryotaro grinning. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"It's alright, Tsuchiura-kun. And yes, I'm much better." They started walking again.

"Hihara-sempai told me what you guys talked about. Are you going to continue in the contest?"

"Yes. I can't give up now. Even if it turns out to be a failure, I will still do my best. What is it that coaches always tell the athletes? 'Finish strong', right?

"Yep." Ryotaro chuckled. "You've certainly done a 180 since the third. I'm glad. A sad face doesn't suit you very well."

She looked at him in confusion. "Oh, here's my house. Thank you for walking me home, Tsuchiura-kun. I'll see you at school tomorrow." She ran up the steps to her door, turned and smiled and waved to Ryotaro, then disappeared through the doorway.

* * *

(1) Quote by Marian Wright Edelman

(2) Means "Intellegent Child of Natsu

(3) I know nothing of violins except what I've learned watching this anime, so if I'm wrong, please don't kill me, I'm a flute player, not a violin.

And for those of you wondering where chapter 3 went, I decided to take it out since it didn't fit the story. If you still want to read it, it's under the title Snow Blanket.


	5. Authors note

I am incredibly sorry for the delay, but I'm swamped with school work. But fear not, I will continue this story I promise, just give me a little time.


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